Nitāi: "Lord Advaita Ācārya is the incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu, whose main function is to create the cosmic world through the actions of māyā."
Prabhupāda:
- mahā-viṣṇur jagat-kartā
- māyayā yaḥ sṛjaty adaḥ
- tasyāvatāra evāyam
- advaitācārya īśvaraḥ
- (CC Adi 1.12)
So there are three principles—the īśvara principle and the māyā principle and the jīva principle—these three principles. So Advaita Ācārya is īśvara principle. He belongs to the īśvara group. Even in communistic country, they call "classless society," but they are also creating a managerial class. They cannot do without that. They could not avoid it, managers. Why manager? Make classless society, all worker. That is not possible. There must be īśvara. Īśvara means controller. That is the beginning, from the creation, īśvara. So īśvara, there are innumerable īśvara forms, as it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33). Many, many, many millions and trillions of īśvara forms... It is stated in the Bhāgavatam that many... How many, how you can calculate? That is compared—just like in the river or in the ocean there are waves, but you cannot count how many waves are there. That is not possible. Can you count the waves of the ocean, going on, day and night, waves? Similarly, in big, big rivers... So God's incarnation, they are coming out, innumerable, just like the waves, but we can understand by the action that He is incarnation of God.
So the activities of Advaita Ācārya means that He's īśvara. He called Caitanya Mahāprabhu to come down. That is īśvara. You cannot call the Supreme Personality of Godhead to come down. That is not possible. But īśvara, or one who has attained the power of attorney from īśvara, he can do that. It is no otherwise possible. Otherwise, it is impossible. Kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe nāma pracāra. We have to receive the authority from Kṛṣṇa. Then it is possible to preach the cult of Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. That means Īśvara, and anyone who attains the power of attorney from Īśvara, he's also īśvara. That is called power of attorney. He can act on behalf of the proprietor. That is possible. So Advaita, Advaita Ācārya did it. He inaugurated this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. When He saw that the people are so much misled that simply they are busy for the bodily necessities of life and completely have forgotten Kṛṣṇa, He became sympathetic. That is Vaiṣṇava behavior. Vaiṣṇavas, they are the best friend of the society, best friend, Vaiṣṇava. Patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ. The Vaiṣṇava is always thinking how to deliver these fallen souls who are so much captivated with this false philosophy of hedonism—"Eat, drink, be merry and enjoy." This is called hedonism. So they are always thinking how to deliver them. Advaita Prabhu did it; therefore He is Īśvara. Prahlāda Mahārāja did it. Any Vaiṣṇava who is actually feeling for the poor, conditioned souls, he must make arrangement for delivering these rascals from the death knell of ignorance. They do not know that nature is working, as it is said here, māyayā. Māyayā. The material nature means māyā. That is an energy, or agent of Kṛṣṇa, to act something, instrumental. Māyā is instrumental. Māyā is not all in all. Material nature is not all in all. That is foolish observation. This materialistic theory of creation—"There was a chunk, and there was..." What is called?
Devotees: Explosion. Blowing. Big bang. Shock.
Prabhupāda: What is that word?
Acyutānanda: Big bang.
Prabhupāda: Big bang?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Explosion.
Prabhupāda: Explosion, yes. So they are seeing that explosion and the chunk, but they cannot explain how the chunk became exploded. Sometimes we see that some earth, by the sunshine heating, heating, heating, it breaks all of a sudden. So this explosion of the chunk does not take place automatically. It is due to the sunshine drying it, drying it, drying it, and at a point it breaks. Similarly, the chunk is also, we can accept, the total material energy. You can take it as chunk. But this material energy in the form of chunk is agitated by the glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu. That is stated, sa aikṣata sa asṛjata. Material energy itself cannot explode. the explosion theory is there... Not theory, fact. But the total material energy, mahat-tattva, when it is glanced over by Mahā-Viṣṇu, then it becomes agitated, and the modes of material nature begins to act. So then these activities are executed by Mahā-Viṣṇu, by His glancing, simply by His glancing. The power... Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful. Viṣṇu is all-powerful. So simply by glancing, He can agitate the material energy, and the creation begins. Sa aikṣata sa asṛjata. Eko nārāyaṇa āsīt. These are the Vedic information. "In the beginning, there was only Nārāyaṇa." Na īśa na brahmā: "There was no Lord Śiva or Lord Brahmā." We have studied that. Nārāyaṇa, the Mahā-Viṣṇu, er, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, He created, first of all, Brahmā. He is already there, from Mahā-Viṣṇu to Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Then He created Brahmā. Then, through the material energy and Brahmā's cooperation, the whole creation came into existence.
So actually the original person for material creation, Mahā-Viṣṇu, through the agency of māyā, He has created. Māyayā sṛjaty adaḥ. All this cosmic manifestation is created in that way. Those who are not devotee, they cannot see that over the chunk, total material energy, there is the vision of Mahā-Viṣṇu. That they cannot see. Just like you'll find on the ground, so many flowers and grasses are coming up. How? By the sunrise, the glance of the sun. Where there is no sunshine, there the vegetables do not grow. We have got practical experience. Similar... Therefore the field or the earth is not exploding with the vegetation. It is due to the sunshine. Therefore it is coming out. It is the real cause. Similarly, accepting that chunk, the total material energy, it is agitated by the glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Then it explodes and things are coming out. We can accept that in that way, but not that automatically there was explosion. That is not fact. Therefore to the foolish person, the power behind the explosion is not visible. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that "I am not visible to everyone, they being covered by the curtain of yoga-māyā." Mūḍhāḥ nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam. Tribhir guṇamayir bhavair mohitaḥ.